Behold the Thief (Rich Man Poor Man Book 4) by Laura Landon

Author:Laura Landon [Landon, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Prairie Muse Books Inc
Published: 2019-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

Lily started at the far end of the room and picked up each auction piece. “Has the dowager duchess brought anything in?”

“Yes. Just as we planned, she submitted one of the pieces Russell suggested earlier would do well on auction.”

“Tell me which piece, so I can watch for the switch,” she said.

Lily moved down the table and examined the next piece. “You do expect him to switch her item with a forgery, surely.”

“I do. I’m sure he’s champing at the bit for the day he can expose me.”

“Then you might want to make sure your bidders know that this French compote is not an original. It’s a replica. A pretty good one to be sure, but it’s still a forgery, and according to its description it’s labeled as an original.”

Jack took the compote from her hands and turned it over. “Are you sure?”

“Look at the underglaze, particularly here on the lower fringe. Does it go to yellow? Or pink.”

Jack studied it closely. “Yellow, it definitely seems to have a yellow tinge.” He looked at Lily, baffled that the glaze tint was to mean something to him which clearly it did not.

“If it were an original, the underglaze would go to pink. This artist abhorred yellow. You’ll never see a touch of yellow anywhere on any of his works.”

Jack grimaced. “How could you possibly know such a thing?”

Lily marveled at Jack’s reaction. He wasn’t at all embarrassed by her finding. He trusted it. The pride she felt when he unquestioningly accepted her evaluation was nearly as sweet as his kisses. Nearly.

Lily simply winked as she turned toward the next piece on the display table. She had no idea how she knew these bits and pieces. But that was just the way her mind work. If she saw it, or read it, or heard it spoken of, it stayed in her memory like a secret card filed away until she had need of it.

“Who brought this French compote in to be sold?” Jack turned full circle holding the compote aloft for his staff to see.

“The what?”

“The footed centerpiece. Number 342.”

“Baron Clyves, sir. Brought it in yesterday. Is something wrong?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong. We’re just taking it off auction for a few days.” He wasn’t ready to expose the fraud to his staff until he could give them facts to back it up. Jack handed the compote to his clerk and turned to her. “How do you suggest we handle this?”

Lily paused for a moment, then gave the only answer she could come up with. “Well, first let’s see if there’s any connection between Baron Clyves and your cousin. If he obtained this piece from Russell or even knows Russell, then we can suspect that Russell may have the original.” Lily looked up into Jack’s face. “If so, he’s switched a treasure worth four thousand pounds for a two shilling bit of junk.” She exhaled a long breath. “He’s getting careless, Jack. Too sure of himself.” She beamed. “Which is very, very good.”

Jack blanched. It wasn’t just the idea that they’d been preparing to sell a forgery.

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